378 OBITUARY. 



His first work as a draughtsman was with Steams & McKay, the yacht builders of Marble- 

 head, followed by a term at the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., with Maryland Steel Co., Spar- 

 row's Point, and Marine Construction and Dry Dock Co., Shooter's Island, N. Y. About 

 ten years ago Mr. Erismann settled in Seattle and engaged in commercial work. During the 

 war he had charge of the designing for the Craig Shipbuilding Company at Long Beach, 

 Calif., and more recently he was associated with Eads Johnson, Inc., in New York. His ex- 

 perience covered every line of work from small racing yachts and power cruisers to the 

 largest sea-going vessels, dredges, fishing craft and dry-docks. 



Visits to Europe in early youth afforded an opportunity for the study of foreign types 

 and of access to the works of the early writers on naval architecture, and above everything 

 else Mr. Erismann reverenced the traditions and conventions of the craft; he knew Chap- 

 man by heart, and though progressive and even radical in his everyday practice, he would 

 turn for inspiration and suggestion to this and other of the ancient authorities. 



With an intimate knowledge of marine artists and writers, he devoted much time to the 

 collection of their works, and in addition he always found time for the study of local 

 types oi all kinds. When engaged in yacht work about Boston he imearthed one of the last 

 of the now extinct Block Island boats and refitted her for a study of the type; he took off 

 her lines and built a replica for further experiment. For many years he had collected the 

 lines of similar local craft such as the Friendship sloops and the Hampton boats of the 

 Maine coast, and at the time of his death he was at work on a book in which, under the 

 comprehensive title of "Boats," he proposed to cover the whole subject of American small 

 craft, following the comprehensive work of Admiral Paris on the boats of the world. While 

 always an indefatigable worker, the recent death of his father left him in a position to with- 

 draw largely from commercial practice and to devote himself to the study of books and 

 boats for the benefit of others, and his love for the subject, his thorough familiarity with it, 

 his skill as a draughtsman and his supply of material afforded ample guarantee of 

 what the result would have been. Apparently in the best of health and in the prime of life, 

 a sudden attack of pneumonia ended a career of achievement in the past and promise for 

 the future. 



Mr. Erismann had been a member of the Society since 1903. He died in New York 

 City in November, 1921. 



FRANK LYSANDER FERNALD 



HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENT 



Frank Lysander Fernald was bom at Kittery, Me., November 11, 1835, the son of 

 William Salisbury and Sarah A. (Hanscom) Fernald. He was educated in the public schools 

 until 1853, being engaged during a portion of that time and until 1854 in shipbuilding work. 



In 1854 he entered the service of the Government as a draughtsman, and by reason of 

 his aptitude and efficiency was promoted through successive grades until he reached that 

 of chief draughtsman at the Navy Yard, Boston, in 1868. On May 4, 1871, he was ap- 

 pointed an Assistant Naval Constructor in the Navy, with the rank of Lieutenant. On 

 March 12, 1875, he received his promotion to Naval Constructor, his rank in this grade 

 being increased in due course to Lieutenant Commander, Commander and Captain, the last 

 named rank being attained in June, 1896. 



